AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her red lips open and close a few times, and she continues to crawl back as I advance. The meager efforts get her nowhere compared to my long strides, and I loom over her, finally able to see how truly small, fragile, and terrified she really is.
I reach down and grasp her wrist, tugging her up toward me, her face mere inches from mine. The scent of her fear mingles with a sweet honey fragrance that matches the color of her hair. “Answer my fucking questions.”
Those pretty, plump lips quiver, and her eyes roll up into the back of her head.
She sags, her entire weight gone limp.
Fucking hell.
I lower her down, settling her head gently against the forest floor, then use my free hand to check her pulse.
Still strong.
She just passed out.
Whoever the hell she is, she has no idea the trouble she’s just gotten herself into…this beautiful woman on my mountain.
I would say there are worse things that could happen to someone, but I can’t think of one.
Chapter Two
CALLISTA
Adull throb in my right foot drags me out of the darkness, forcing me to battle the last vestiges of sleep when I would rather fall under again. The empty blackness is somehow so inviting, warm when it should be cold. Safe when it should be frightening.
I shift slightly, and the pain intensifies.
With a groan, I try to dive back into the inky place in my foggy brain and roll in the soft, comfortable bed, burrowing deeper under the lush comforter.
I resettle, face buried in a feather pillow, and shift my legs to lie flat on my stomach. The motion only sends more agony through my foot. That sharp jab each time I move, even a fraction of an inch, won’t let me return to that blissful, floaty state.
What the fuck?
Still groggy, my head filled with a fuzzy white haze I can’t seem to clear completely, I push myself up on my elbow and force my eyes open.
Black satin pillowcase.
Equally luxurious silky sheets wrapped around me.
A dark room.
An unfamiliar one.
I freeze.
Unease quickly invades my brain, evaporating any lingering remnants of my slumber. I blink rapidly, trying to take in my mysterious surroundings while tamping down the panic threatening to seize control.
Where the hell am I?
An enormous four-poster bed surrounds me, draped with dark fabric across the top and circling the hand-cut posts. Thick timber beams span the length of the ceiling, giving the entire space a rustic, elegant look. The scent of crisp, clean air and fresh-cut wood invades every breath, just as it did when…
Oh, shit.
It all comes rushing back—a deluge of memories and feelings heavy enough to crush my chest.
The drive up here…
A volatile man coming out of the woods…
